Ship construction for reducing drag



Dec. 22, 1953 A. F. oUELLl-:T

SHIP CONSTRUCTION FOR REDUCING DRAG Filed Dec; 27, 1951 Patented Dec.22, 1953 UNITED gSTATES PATENT o-FFICE Albert F. Ouellet, New York, N.Y; Application December 27, 1951, vSerial No. 263,526 n This inventionrelates to improvements in boat construction, and more particularly to ameans for increasing the speed of water borne vessels.

It is an object of this invention to devise an attachment for shipslwhich'can be operated so as to decrease the' drag due to water iiowingalong the sides of the ship, and also decrease the drag due to the Waterimmediately to the rear thereof.

Another object of this invention is to devise a means for reducing waterdrag, and thereby increasing the speed of boats, which means can bereadily controlled so as to be operated as desired by the ships crew.

It is a further object of this invention to devise a speed-increasingmeans for ships which is simple in construction, and can be easilymounted on ships presently being constructed, as well as ships now inservice, and which is not likely to be damaged by obstructions in thewater.

It is still another object of this invention to provide aspeed-increasing means for ships which Ameans can be also used to serveas a brake for retarding the movement of a ship through the water.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdescription of the present invention, illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view showing the preferred form of my invention asapplied to the ship.

Figure 2 is an elevational view of the stern portion of a Vessel,showing the invention thereon.v Figure 3 is a cross sectional View takenon line 3--3 of Figure l, showing the hull of the ship and the inventionas connected thereto. Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4of Figure 3.

,Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5 of Figure 4 showing aportion of the blade formingpart of my device in its inoperativeposition.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5, showing in full lines the bladepartially extended, and

in dotted lines, showing the fully extended position.

Figure 7 is a sectional view similar to those of Figures 5 and 6, butshowing a modified form of my invention.

Similar reference characters represent similar ders and ns have beendeveloped, as well as means to direct the flow along the sides ofthefboats, such as, for example, through channels. In addition, attemptshave been made to direct air flow along the vessel surfaces in'order todecrease the water drag. However, none of the devices originatedl in thepast have proven to be successful. They have been either too cumbersome,too diflicultto construct, required innumerable changes in the shipconstruction, or from'their very natures, are not suited for thepurposes intended. Y

I have devised a simple, compact, easily and cheaply constructed meanswhich can not only be incorporated into new vessels, but canv also bereadily attached to present ships with minor modiiication thereof. Mydevice, as will appear in the following description, comprises fewmoving parts, and complex means for attaching it to a vessel are notrequired. However, despitethe fact that the means for accomplishing thepurposes set out in the objects above are very simple, I have invented adevice which will considerably reduce the elects of the drag ofthousands of tons of water created behind moving boats as now built.

As shown in the drawings, I indicates a ship having a shape similar tothat of the present-day vessels. Immediately adjacent the stern of theship a cylindrical tube or housing II (see Figure 4) is formed in thevessel side plating I6 on each vside of the boat. Each tube II extendsvertically, as shown in Figure 4. The tube has a sealed bottom I2 belowthe waterline of the ship and an opening I3 at the top above the waterline. A support member I 4 may be secured to the top of the tube and tothe boat structure in order to strengthen the tube. A verticallyextendingopening or slot I is provided along one side ofthe tube whichslot extends through theplating I5. Immediately to the rear of thealined opening I5 the ship plating I6 is formed/with a longitudinallyand vertically extending depression I'I. Within the cylindrical memberII a shaft I8 is rotatably mounted. The shaft I 8 is supportedvertically by bearing surface I9 formed in the cylindrical tube I I. Acup-shaped opening, formed in the member I I receives a depending memberI I.

An` aileron or fin 22 is iixedly secured to` the' shaft I8 in such amanner that it projects outwardly through the opening I5. The iin 22 andthe depression I'I are so disposed and dimensioned that the aileron maybe placed within said depression, as shown in Figure. When in suchposition the n is in Valignment with the contour of the hull plates, andthus little or no disruption in the normal flow of waterk will occurwhen my invention is not being used. As shown in Figures 2 and 43, thecylindrical tube I I, the depression I 'l` and n 22, as well as openingI5, areso disposed that the ns will lie immediately below the loadvwater line of the ship. Housing II extends upwardly above the waterline.

The shaft I8, as mentioned above, can be rotated within the housing II.For this purpose a worm wheel 23 is attached to the top of the shaft anda worm 24 is shown in engagement therewith. Through means of the wormand wheel the shaft can be rotated in such a manner as to cause iin 22to project outwardly from the side of the ship as shown in Figure 6.

Shaft I8 is hollow, as shown at 25, and at the bottom of the shaftadjacent the connection between the shaft and the aileron, openings 26are provided. The hollow portion of the shaft constitutes a conduit. Asshown in Fig. 4, an air line 26a may be connected to the conduit inshaft I8 and by means of the openings 2B a flow of air may be directedoutwardly along the rear surface of the aileron.

In Figure 1 there is shown a shaft 21 Yupon which two of the worms 24may be mounted. Through means of this shaft 2 and the worms 24, aileronsat both sides of the vessel can be controlled. A bevel gear ii'mountedon shaft 2?, is in engagement with a bevel Agear 29 mounted on thelongitudinally extending shaft 36. At the forward end of the vessel theshaft 3) is shown to be connected to additional gearing 3l. Through theuse of this additional gearing, a mechanical connection may be continuedup to the control room of the vessel. Thus, it is seen that ailerons 22at both sides of the vessel may be controlled directly throughmechanical means by the crew members operating the ship. Of course it isto be understood that any suitable form of control and power means maybe employed. For example, electrical or hydraulic actuating mechanismscontrolled through suitable servo units may be utilized. Also, it isclear that the gears 23 and 24 may be replaced by different types ofgears or that suitable lever mechanism may be used in place thereof.

As shown in Figure 5, the aileron is in inoperative position. As shownin full lines in Figure 6,

the n has been moved outwardly of the ship suiiiciently to permit thepassage of air between the nn and the ship plating I'I. When the vesselis under way a flow of `air can be obtained between the hull and thefins to reduce water drag. When the ship is moving through the water,and the fin is in the position shown by full lines in Fig. 6, thesuction of the lwater will cause air to iiow down lthrough the shaft I8and outwardly through the openings 25 along the side of the vessel, asshown by the arrow. Of course, if desired, air can be forced underpressure through the shaft I8. The air Will flow along the surface ofthe boat between the water and the hull and thus there will be a markedreduction in water drag.

'Ihe invention can be used as a brake severing to retard forward motionby causingV the finsv 22 to be extended from the side, to the extentshown by the phantom lines in Fig. 6. When thus extended considerablebraking effect can be obtained.

Figure '7 shows a modification of my invention. As shownv in Figure 7, ahousing 32 may be formed integrally with the plating 33. This housing 32is similar to the housing I l in that it extends vertically along theinner side plating and in that it is closed at the bottom and open atthe top. Housing 32 and the vessel plating 33 have holes 34 extendingtherethrough leading from the hollow portion of the housing to theexterior of the vessel. It should be noted that housing 32 may be madeas a separate element and then attached to the ship plating. Cylinder II likewise may consist of a separate element.

As in the previous modicatiomwhen `the ship lreaches a suitable speedyair will be drawn down the housing 32 and out through the openings 34.As a result the water will not follow the contour of the vessel and thedrag of the water will be reduced.

From the foregoing description it will be seen thatfI have devised anovel means of increasing the speedof waterborne vessels. It will alsobe seen that the apparatus which I employ for increasing the speed isrelatively simple in construction and can be mounted in vessels at areasonable cost.

Moreover, it is apparent' that my invention may' be; employed in thehulls of iiying boats for all of the aforementioned purposes describedherein.

While I have shown and described a preferred form of my invention itwill be understood thatv variations in details of form may be madewithout departing from the invention as defined in the appended claim.

I claim:

In a water-borne vessel having side plating, along the outer surfacev ofwhich water moves relatively to the ship during the ships forwardprogress, a vertically disposed housing arranged within the ships hull,.a tubular shaft Vjournaled in said housing and terminating above theships water-line in an open end adapted for the reception of a tensionequalizing medium 'to be de' livered rearwardly along-side-ship belowthe water-line thereof, said plating being formed with a depressionbelow the ships water-line and there presenting a rearwardly extendingwall surface bearing at its forward end an inwardly off-set relation tothe outer surface of said plating in the vicinity of said 'housing andbearing at its rear end a fared-in relation to the ships hull, and a ncarried by said shaft and accommodated within said depression foradjustment inwardly and outwardly of said depression incident 'torotation of said shaft in one direction or the other, said iin beingnormally disposed in close proximity to the rearwardly extending wallsurface of said depression and forming therewith a narrow passageterminating at its outerl end substantially in the plane of the `outersurface of said plating and there serving as an ejector nozzle havingits inner end terminating in communication with said shaft and thusadapted for the reception of a tension equalizing medium to be suppliedthrough that shaft in accordance with the fluid-requirements as set upwithin said ejector nozzle under the relative iiow of water past theexit end of said nozzle.

ALBERT F. OUELLET.

References Cited inthe le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 667,482 Albarda Feb. 5, 1901 1,196,682 HarrSS Aug. 29, 19161,416,950 Fay May 23, 1922 2,145,463 'Spinanger Jan. 31, 1939 2,378,822Barry June 19, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 14,012 GreatBritain of 1906 110,326 Sweden Apr. 11, 1944

